Mar 4

Mar 4 Gammy's Chicken Parm!

Hi friends,

Today I am going to share with you how I make Chicken Parm. My grandma, I call her Gammy, is an amazing cook! She is straight from Sicily and can embody all those yummy Sicilian flavors in her cooking. I’ve started experimenting with cooking her dishes, with her help of course, and have found that I have some natural talent for it and I enjoy it. This week I made Gammy’s Chicken Parm. It came so yummy and to be honest it was quite easy. Anyone can do it! I posted it on my Instagram and had so many requests to share the recipe. So I decided to make it a blog post and share with you guys my easy, DELICIOUS, Chicken Parm! Gammy is teaching me to cook by a ‘handful here’ or a ‘pinch there’, so don’t look for exact measurements…just trust your palate ;)

Ingredients:

Boneless Chicken Breasts
Panko Bread Crumbs
Grating Cheese
4 Cheese Italian (shredded cheese)
Mozzarella Cheese
Garlic
Fresh Parsley
Eggs
Salt + Pepper
Marinara Sauce
Olive Oil

STep 1.

Preheat your oven to 425*. Cut your boneless breasts in halves. Not too thick and not too thin! I used 2lbs of chicken and it was about 9 pieces. Depending on the number and size of breasts you use this number will be between 8-10! Now that you’ve cut the breasts place them into a bowl and leave them to the side.

Step 2.

Let’s make some bread crumbs! I used Panko bread crumbs because you can really season them up and they do not have MSG, which a lot of bread crumbs do. But here’s where the real magic of this dish happens, what you add to your breadcrumbs. Pour a good mound of breadcrumbs onto a dinner plate. Then add a few handfuls of grating cheese. I used Parmegian-Reggiano! There is no set amount, just add to taste. Mix the cheese into the breadcrumbs with your hands. Next chop up a few cloves of garlic and add them to the breadcrumbs. Chop up some fresh parsley, maybe 1-2 tablespoons, mix that in too. Add a couple of teaspoons of salt, add a couple of pinches of black pepper to taste. Something I have learned in cooking is to taste as you go, so taste the breadcrumb mixture and see if they are flavorful all by themselves. If not, keep adding the above ingredients till you are satisfied.

Step 3.

In a separate bowl, whisk together 2 eggs. The low, large kind is easiest to work with.

Step 4.

Sauce is your choice. I used my Gammy’s red sauce but you can use any marinara sauce you like!

Step 5. You are ready to cook!!

Heat some olive oil in a large saute pan for a couple mins, enough oil to fill the circumference of the pan. You want the breasts to sit on top of the oil, just enough to come up onto the sides of the chicken. Dip the chicken in the eggs and then coat the chicken in your breadcrumb mixture, making sure both sides are evenly covered. GENTLY place your breaded chicken in the saute pan because the oil will be HOT and you don’t want it to splash you. Use tongs or gently lay them into the pan with your hands. Fry each side for about 4 minutes. You will need to add more olive oil as you go, so keep an eye on that. I fry about 3 pieces at a time.

Step 6.

Use a large baking dish with a lid for baking the chicken. Ladle about an inch of sauce to the bottom of your baking dish. Then place each piece of breaded chicken into the dish. On top of each breast, add some grating cheese, shredded 4 cheese Italian cheese and top with a thick slice of mozzarella (shredded mozz is ok too). I recommend using more cheese than you think because it will melt and disappear a bit. I used about a inch thick, round piece of mozzarella on each piece of chicken and I think it could have used a bit more. But this is totally up to how much cheese you want on top! Last, pour a light amount of marinara sauce on top.